2014 Robert Mondavi Winery Maestro Red Blend Napa Valley

Highly inspired by the response to our limited-release 50th Anniversary Maestro, we once again let artistic direction in the vineyard lead us to a unique blend in this second rendition of Maestro, where a crescendo of dark, juicy plum and cassis fruit, violet, cinnamon, and unsweetened cocoa linger on sumptuous sips full of vibrant flavor and plush tannins.
73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, 2% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot

Vineyard Notes

While Maestro is inspired by Bordeaux blends, at heart, it's a free spirit. Rather than a set style, we take our cues each vintage from the vineyards themselves. 2014 was a fantastic season for Cabernet Sauvignon in our prized Wappo Hill and To Kalon vineyards, which led to the inspiration behind this blend. Our 2014 Maestro is designed to capture the refined balance between these two estate vineyards. Part of the Stags Leap growing region, Wappo Hill is a special site offering delicious consistency, and bringing freshness and softness to the wine. Fruit from Oakville's long-revered To Kalon vineyard, considered Napa Valley's grand cru, adds structure and bold tannins to the final wine

Production Notes

2014 started with worrisome, drought-like conditions, and many feared a parched, dry spring as in 2013. Refreshingly, spring rains came in February and into March providing water for the soils and filling reservoirs. The wine growing season will most be remembered for the August 24th earthquake that occurred just as harvest was commencing in the Napa Valley. The vines were not affected and harvest finished early, bringing in beautiful, healthy fruit. Grape picking took place from September 17th to October 17th.

Winemaker Notes

The grapes were hand-harvested into small bins and carefully sorted in our gravity-flow cellar. The clusters were gently destemmed directly into traditional French oak tanks for cold soak, fermentation and extended maceration – a total of 24 days of wine to skin contact – maximizing the extraction of varietal character and complexity while keeping the tannins fleshy and supple. The new wine was drained and gently pressed into 28% new French-oak barrels for malolactic fermentation, assuring seamless integration of fruit and oak. The final blend was assembled through repeated tasting trials over the 21 months of barrel aging.

94 Points

Named for the opening of Robert Mondavi's To Kalon Cellar in 2000, when the man himself threw a huge "cellar-bration" featuring a commissioned chamber-orchestra piece aptly named "Ode to To Kalon." It was there that Mr. Mondavi leapt to his feet to lead the music. As a tribute to the pioneering Maestro of Napa Valley's success, this wine—a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc and 2% each of Merlot and Petit Verdot—offers up a meaty nose of deep, dark chocolate-covered strawberries. Flavors of tobacco, soil, slate, tar and olives go long on gritty tannins, and with a wave of the baton, it finishes on a high note of lilacs and caramel-coated coffee bean.

Meridith May - The Tasting Panel, August 2017

93 Points

THis second vintage of a Bordeaux styled blend made in tribute to founder Robert Mondavi fratures bold menthol aromas and flavors at this point in its development, and there is a fair amount of new oak evident. That said, there's plenty to like here, both now and for the future...I'm reminded of some of the early offerings from the winery under the maestro's baton - they always came around.